A President Under Threat

2018-09-20 00:00:08

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One of Sirisena’s prime concerns these days is to seek solutions to the post war issues

The alleged revealing of an assassination plot on President Maithripala Sirisena and former military official now turned politician Gotabaya Rajapaksa has given the Government authorities and the defence establishment plenty to think about the security of VIPs and the country’s citizens.

The alleged revelation is directly linked to those who are engaged in drug peddling. The person who made the revelation has said that the would be assassin (Not named yet) wanted to bump off Sirisena and Gotabaya because the duo are against the drug trade. This threat could also severely hamper Sirisena’s movements in public in the run up to the elections.

A prominent feature about Sirisena is his ability to accommodate the ideas of others

One of Sirisena’s prime concerns these days is to seek solutions to the post war issues

sirisena is readying himself to submit a set of special proposals to the UNHRC

In the context of elections, this could be a master plan by someone who wishes to stifle the president. Sirisena is someone who moves freely with the crowd. Seeing the president mingle with people could have the effect of throwing sand in the eyes of those who oppose him as the ruler of this nation. The same analysis is applicable to Gotabaya who has given rise to so much speculation in being one of the next presidential candidates. The Premier speaking in Parliament quite rightly said that Gota should be provided with security if he makes a request, but added that no one should try to gain political advantages from this incident.

As much as Gotabaya wishes to showcase himself as a future president, Sirisena has shown the desire to be reelected to the top seat in politics. It is no secret that there are some politicians who have links with the drug trade. So the would be assassin of the these two political figures perhaps represents a drug-dealing community which wishes to have a president who’ll allow such nefarious activities to continue.

Given the talk about assassinations, in a hypothetical sense and with all respect to the first citizen of this country, could this writer pose this question; is this the time to assassinate Sirisena?

The alleged revealing of an assassination plot on President Maithripala Sirisena and former military official now turned politician Gotabaya Rajapaksa has given the Government authorities and the defence establishment plenty to think about the security of VIPs and the country’s citizens.

In 2015 the country voted in Sirisena as president, largely to appose Mahinda Rajapaksa and not because of any proven credentials Sirisena possessed. A prominent feature about Sirisena is his ability to accommodate the ideas of others. The current president agreed to restrict the term of a president to two terms, through the 19th Amendment, and is also said to be in agreement with the contents in the proposed 20th Amendment; which will see much of the powers of the president being taken away and the premier’s portfolio in parliament being strengthened.

A balanced man

We also see the premier exercising much power and engaging in the task of forging ties with other nations and building business bridges.

Wickramasinghe has always been skilled in forging international relations and striking deals which are beneficial to the country. Sirisena has allowed the premier to engage in such talks and most importantly offered the opportunities to Wickramasinghe to work on his strengths. If we have seen the best of Wickramasinghe we have seen it during the Yahapalana regime. His biggest victory in politics came when he survived a no-confidence motion which was moved against him.

President Sirisena has a balance when executing his duties as the head of state. He has given the minorities the opportunities to safeguard their status in the country. After being sworn into power he has worked closely with India, the super power of South Asia. The Yahapalana regime, under Sirisena, has allowed India to build houses in the north and the Central Provinces. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if this writer states that this nation has a president who possesses the ability to work even with the devil!

One of Sirisena’s prime concerns these days is to seek solutions to the post war issues. There is a threat of economic sanctions being imposed on Sri Lanka by the UNHRC. This is following an initiation taken by the Tamil Nadu Government urging the Government of India to move a resolution against Sri Lanka in connection with issues related to the war, that concluded. In response to this the president is readying himself to submit a set of special proposals to the UNHRC Commissioner on September 25.

A friendly India would always ensure that Sri Lanka has a neighbour who doesn’t rock her boat, in terms of peace. This is why two highly ambitious members of the Rajapaksa family made a recent visit to India and met Premier Narendra Modi

President Sirisena is quite aware of the importance of forging healthy ties with India. A friendly India would always ensure that Sri Lanka has a neighbour who doesn’t rock her boat, in terms of peace. This is why two highly ambitious members of the Rajapaksa family made a recent visit to India and met Premier Narendra Modi. For the record the Tamil Community voting against Rajapaksa at the last presidential elections was hugely influenced by an Indian factor.

India’s support

At present the relationship between Modi and Sirisena is well cemented. India has already pledged support to develop ports and aviation facilities in Sri Lanka. If a quick comparison is made regarding the relationship between the two nations during the Rajapaksa regime and Yahapalana Government, the latter has been preferred by India. This is because Sirisena has allowed a larger Indian presence in Sri Lanka compared to what Rajapaksa did, which was the opposite. One can’t blame Sirisena for the stance taken in forging relations with India because the Indian Ocean Region is set to define the destiny of the planet in the 21st century.

At the time of writing, the Sri Lankan President is alive and kicking despite the talk of assassination attempts on him. A close analysis of this death threat on the president makes us wonder whether anyone who was privy to the plan would spell out everything to the police given that he would later encounter untold problems. What’s alarming is that a high-ranking Police official is also privy to this alleged assassination plot. It seems that these efforts have been made to shake up the president in making him lose focus of the important task at hand; which is preparing for the run-up to the upcoming elections.

Drug peddling and trafficking have continued for so long despite tight security measures being taken to control such activities. Even if Sirisena opposes drug peddling and wishes to reimpose the death penalty on those who deal with drugs, these narcotics would be freely available in this island. The only hassle would be to find the green notes which give one the buying power to purchase them.

Sirisena has committed few or no errors during his tenure as president, given the financial situation the country is in. The only fault in the president, as Mahinda Rajapaksa has pointed out, is his habit of going to sleep by 10 o’clock in the night.